“The media has long had its struggles with the truth–that’s nothing new. What is new is that we’re barely even apologizing for increasingly considering the truth optional. In fact, the mistakes, and the falsehoods, and the hoaxes are a big part of a business plan driven by the belief that big traffic absolves all sins, that success is a primary virtue.”

“Mother of God, become a feminist!” sang Pussy Riot in the protest that made them world-famous. But “is it just a crazy oxymoron to imagine the Virgin Mary, to whom a very large proportion of traditional Christian ritual and prayer is addressed, as a feminist heroine?”

Lyn Gardner: “It was once said that it would be impossible to modernise football grounds but that has happened, in some cases through updating and in some instances through re-building. Like football, West End theatre is a business, and one that last year posted record revenues.”

“The Romans celebrated the winter festival of Sigillaria on 23rd of December, part of their Saturnalia festivities. Just like on Christmas Day, Sigillaria saw presents exchanged. So how does Sigillaria compare to a modern day Christmas? And can we say that the Roman’s invented Christmas?”

“He gained notoriety as early as the 1950s in Detroit for his prescient experiments with what would come to be known as “world music,” grafting exotic instruments like the Egyptian arghul and the melodic contours and rhythms of Africa and the Middle and Far East onto the trunk of hard-swinging modern jazz.”

“He keeps making movies in which extremely needy people get what they are seeking (a ghost orchid, an escape from mom, fifteen minutes inside John Malkovich, an O.S. for a girlfriend) but can’t keep it.”

“Increased performances and audience numbers together with a 71% increase in income from sponsorship and donations gave English National Opera a 12% boost in total income to just over £40 million in the year to the end of March.”

“Officials for the AT&T Performing Arts Center announced Monday that they finished in the black for a second consecutive year,” after an opening year that saw a $3.3 million deficit. But there’s the matter of the capital campaign.

“The Orlando Ballet has chosen its third executive director in three years. Ron Legler, president of Florida Theatrical Association and owner of downtown nightclub The Abbey, will be the ballet’s interim leader.”

“Not many women in India choose a Sanskrit theatre that’s more than 2,000 years old as their profession. But Margi Sathi not only picked koodiyattam, she also contributed immensely to the evolution of a strong feminine narrative of the ancient art form, while resuscitating nangiarkoothu, a women-only offshoot that dates back to the 10th century.”

“Look no further than this instructional video by Contemporary Eric, which carefully demonstrates the 15 foundational steps of the genre,” such as the “Zombie With Emotion” and the “Why Is Your Head in My Hand?”

“The buildings are stirring some populist fury and prompting an argument: Do we need more public oversight when it comes to the city’s stratospheric architecture? Are we selling off our skyline to the plutocrats? Or are those who occupy these spaces serving up much needed tax revenue to the city?”

“For the last two years cyberwarriors loyal to Bashar al-Assad have made cyberspace a second front in the Syrian conflict. For nearly as long, Marquis-Boire and his colleagues Eva Galperin and John Scott-­Railton have been tracking and analyzing the arsenal of computer malware used against the Syrian opposition, journalists and NGOs.”

“The largely grantmaking-driven state arts agencies simply are not structured to excel in today’s environment. This is primarily the case because the grantmaking function in the states as currently practiced requires an ever-expanding flow of funds to operate successfully in the long term.”